Paraffin wrinkle and bubble remover apparatus

ABSTRACT

A hand held apparatus for removing wrinkles and bubbles in a thin paraffin ribbon having a pair of normally flexible handles and a pair of elongated strut members with the handles, disposed at an angle in relation to the handles and movable with respect to one another, responsive to a flexing of the handles. The apparatus also includes a pair of spreader portions disposed at the opposite end of the strut members in relation to the handles, and a pair of spreader pad portions attached to the top end portions of the strut members so that flexing of the handles brings the spreader portions in close relation to one another, and unflexing of the handles brings the spreader portions apart, thus spreading the thin paraffin layer as the spreader portions are separated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to laboratory instruments. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for removingwrinkles and bubbles in a paraffin ribbon set upon a water bath.

2. General Background

Whenever a section of tissue, organs or any part of the human body isremoved through the process of surgery, a specimen or part of thespecimen is sent to the histology laboratory for processing intomicroscopic slide examinations. Through a series of dehydrating alcoholsand clearing chemicals, for example, dioxane, zylene, or benzene, thetissue specimen is impregnated with a non-water soluble wax calledparaffin (paraplast). The specimen tissue is then completely encased ina block of the paraffin paraplast. It is mounted on a microtome andsliced at four to ten microns in thickness.

Due to the up and downward motion of the microtome block holder shaft, aparaffin ribbon is formed on the microtome knife. Each paraffin sectionadheres to the edge of the one preceding it. This extended ribbon, madeup of the various paraffin sections connected end to end, is spread on awater bath with the water temperature at approximately 34-38 degreesCentigrade. The warm water assists in spreading out the ribbon andremoving wrinkles from the paraffin wax. However, many smaller wrinklesand air bubbles are trapped in the sections while it is being laid onthe water bath surface.

Presently, several items are utilized in the histology laboratory forremoving these tiny wrinkles and bubbles from the paraffin ribbons,including, an artist's camel hair brush, a metal probe which resembles amini "ice pick", the technician's fingers and cotton swabs.

Each of these methods have encountered various problems, mostly havingto do with the inefficiency and cumbersomeness with which theseparticular apparatus have to be utilized over the delicately and thinlycut paraffin ribbon. However, in each of these methods, if the deviceutilized would have the slightest catch onto the paraffin ribbon, itwould completely destroy the ribbon, and the paraffin mount would haveto be redone.

Other methods would include the technician removing the wrinkles andbubbles by stretching out the paraffin ribbon until most of the wrinklesare out. Again, this works to a certain extent. However, by stretchingthe paraffin ribbon, the technician would start to separate the specimento be examined. The specimen has been infiltrated with paraffin, so asthe technician would pull on the ribbon, the specimen would crack andtear. This would create gaps and cracks which the pthologist mustproportion back together under the microscope. Such an undertaking wouldbe tedious and time consuming.

The present apparatus would solve the technician's problem in removingwrinkles and bubbles in paraffin ribbons with the use of a forceps-likeapparatus. Some patents demonstrate forcep structures as follows:

U.S. Pat. No. 2,587,486, entitled "Cervical Speculum" issued to J. Koganwould teach the use of an apparatus having a pair of handles, a pivotconnecting said handles and a blade portion connected to each of thehandles and extending on the opposite side of the pivot. The use of theinstrument would be for dilating the mouth of the cervical canal byextending out the handle proportions of the apparatus.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,386,436, entitled "Dental Pliers" issued to W. C. Smithwould teach the use of pliers particularly adapted for use by dentistsin handling small particles of material for a positive grip is desirableand accuracy in application necessary. The improved pliers are formedfrom a single piece of metal intermediately bent to provide opposingjaws which are reduced in thickness and terminated the free ends of thejaws in laterally and obliquely projected beaks.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,861, entitled "Electrically Heated Miniature ThermalImplement" issued to A. Fukunaga, would teach the use of a miniaturethermal wire strip having a pair of heater elements in the form ofhollow tubes, each with a heater coil disposed therein in a fixture witha pair of spring loaded handles for contacting and subsequently meltingthrough thermal insulation about a wire from which insulation is to bestripped.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,510,254 entitled "Pliers" issued to J. O. Boyle wouldteach the use of an instrument consisting of a pair of resilient,swingable arms, each having a pair of spacer spreader arms provided withteeth, the resilient and mounted arms being adapted to be moved intoengagement with each other to permit insertion of the spreader arms intothe incision so that the teeth may engage walls of the incision or mayengage the skin for spreading the walls apart.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,728 entitled "Hair Tweezers" issued to G. T. Dalewould teach the use of tweezers wherein the gripping portion of thetweezers are held in positive engagement with each other under springpressure and the gripping action does not depend on the user holding thetweezers closed.

General Discussion of the Present Invention

The apparatus of the present invention provides a hand held apparatusfor removing wrinkles in a thin paraffin ribbon. The apparatus wouldhave a pair of flexible normally angularly spaced handles connected atone end portion. Set upon the other end portion of each handle would bean elongated strut portion forming an integral section with the handlesand disposed at an angle in relation to the longitudinal axis of thehandles. The strut members would form an integral projection withspreader portions disposed at the other end of the strut members and atan angle to the strut members. The spreader portions would generallycomprise a spreader arm forming a support for a spreader pad, the latterbeing fixedly connected at the top portion of the spreader arm. Thespreader pads would be substantially convex on the top surface andconnected to the spreader arm midway along the lower surface. The topsurface of the spreader pads would also be coated with a paraffinnon-adhesive material. In the operation, the handles would maintain thespreader arms apart from one another. Upon contraction of the handles,the spreader arms and spreader pads would move together and alignthemselves to form a spreader surface upon which the underside of theparaffin ribbon would rest against. The arms would then be allowed toreflex back to their normal position, thus the spreader pads movingoutward away from one another spreading the paraffin ribbon smooth.Also, the top free end of the handle portions would be tapered off intoa needle point, so that the paraffin ribbon, which are connected end toend, could be separated from one another with the pointed end.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hand helddevice useful in the preparation of paraffin ribbon type microscopicslides.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method forremoving bubbles and the like from microscopic slide paraffin ribbonsduring the slide preparation stage.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device forremoving bubbles and wrinkles from paraffin ribbons while supported on awater bath and prior to microscopic slide mounting.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a microscopicslide paraffin ribbon manipulating device which is easy to use andsimple in operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device useful inthe preparation of paraffin ribbons for mounting on microscopic slideswhich both flattens and removes wrinkles and bubbles from the paraffinribbon on a water bath as well as provides means for cutting excessportions of the paraffin ribbon from the useful portion.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a spreaderdevice for use in preparation of microscopic slide paraffin ribbonswhich does not adhere to the paraffin ribbon during the manipulationthereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a further understanding of the nature and object of the presentinvention, reference should be made to the following detaileddescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich like parts are given like reference numerals and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of theapparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the preferred embodiment of theapparatus of the present invention with the forceps collapsed;

FIG. 3 is a detailed partial side view of the spreader portion of thepreferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is perspective view of the second preferred embodiment of theapparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of the cutting tip portion of thepreferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a side view of the second preferred embodiment of theapparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the spreader portions of the apparatusproximate one another set against the paraffin ribbon;

FIG. 9 is a side view of the spreader portion of the apparatus extendedagainst the paraffin layer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 best illustrates the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of thepresent invention designated generally by the numeral 10. In FIG. 1there can be seen handles 12 and 14 which are preferably integrallyconnected at one end portion 16 and tapering off into needlepoint end19. As will be described more fully hereinafter, needlepoint 19 can beutilized in separating the sections of paraffin ribbons after they havebeen laid upon water bath 32.

Water bath 32 would normally be provided in the preparation ofmicroscopic slides when a paraffin ribbon were used. It is known in theart to prepare thin paraffin ribbons by cutting them in very thin (forexample, a few microns in thickness) which sections are cut into thesethin sections using a microtome. These sections are then mounted on thesurface of a water bath. In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a water bath 32 has beenschematically illustrated having a water surface WS.

Strut members 22, 24 are preferably integrally attached to handles 12,14 respectively. Note from an inspection of FIG. 4 that handle 14 isangularly disposed to strut member 22 with an angle of 135 degrees beingpreferable.

At the other end portion of each strut member 22, 24 there is preferablyintegrally formed therewith at, for example, 90 degree angles thereto, apair of vertically disposed spreader arms 13, 15. Each spreader arm 13,15 as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 connects integrally to its respectivestrut member 22, 24.

Vertical spreader arms 13, 15 would support spreader pad portions 23 and25 which could be of circular, rectangular, oval or the like in shape,the preferred embodiment indicating that the rectangular configurationas illustrated in FIG. 1 would be the preferred shape. Spreader pads 23and 25 would have a convex upper surface 26 (FIG. 3) which in use wouldabut against the bottom surface of paraffin wax ribbon 33 and would beconnected to spreader arms 13, 15 on the flat lower surface 27,28 ofspreader pads 23 and 25. Arrows 63 indicate the ability of handles 12and 14 to move into and away from one another in a flexing movement.FIG. 1 shows a normal "spaced" position which handles 12, 14 wouldassume absent force applied by hand. In FIG. 2, handles 12, 14 arecollapsed and moved inwardly as illustrated by arrows 64. Handles 12, 14would be of a spring steel such as stainless steel or the like, and thisbiasing to the spaced normal position could be overcome by applying handforce as with conventional tweezers.

FIG. 2 would illustrate apparatus 10 with handles 12, 14 in thecollapsed position. Note that in the collapsed position, verticalspreader arms 13, 1 are brought adjacent one another to a point that thespreader pad 23, 25 portions are making contact with and abutting oneanother at point A and would in effect create a continuous spreader padsurface. In FIGS. 1-3 is paraffin ribbon 33 as it would be set uponwater bath 32. In FIG. 2, paraffin ribbon 32 has a wrinkle 34 andbubbles 35 which are typically encountered in the preparation of suchparaffin ribbon slide mounts at the water bath stage. In FIG. 1, handles12, 14 would then be allowed to unflex with the user relaxing hand heldpressure allowing handles 12, 14 to diverge similarly and therewithspreader pads 23, 25 diverge having the effect of smoothing theundersurface of paraffin ribbon 33 in the process to remove wrinkle 34.

FIG. 2 would illustrate a side view of apparatus 10 showing the distalend portion 16 of apparatus 10 which would taper off into needlepoint 19for perforating, serrating and separating the excess portions ofparaffin ribbon 33, prior to mounting ribbon 33 on a slide as would bemore clearly illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIGS. 5-7 indicate a second preferred embodiment of the apparatus of thepresent invention designated generally as 110. As can be seen from thedrawings, the apparatus is generally J-shaped. This particularembodiment of the apparatus 110 would also include handles 112 and 114connected at the proximate end portion 116, with the ability for flexingaway from one another. It should be noted also that proximate end 116also provides needlepoint 119 for separation of the paraffin ribbon onthe water bath as with the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4.

In this embodiment (FIGS. 5-7) note that handles 112 and 114 are curvedand would be integrally attached to arcuate recurved section 118, 119 ofhandles. Recurved sections 118, 119 are generally shown below dottedline C (FIG. 5). In this particular embodiment, it should be noted thatthe hand held section of handles 112 and 114 would have the ability tobe held above water and operated thusly without the operator's handhaving to go beneath the surface of the water, similar to the preferredembodiment of FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 6 would illustrate needlepoint 119 of apparatus 110 as it would beperforating and serrating paraffin ribbon 33, allowing paraffin ribbon33 to be separated from the next paraffin ribbon section 37 which wouldbe attached thereto after having been sliced from the paraffin block.Needlepoint 119 contained on proximate end portion 116 of apparatus 110would essentially enable an operator to utilize the same apparatus inperforming both the functions of separating the paraffin ribbon from oneanother and removing the wrinkles and bubbles from the layer of paraffin33 which would be set upon water bath 32.

FIG. 7 illustrates the location of spreader pads 125, 127 as seen inside view and its geometric relationship to the handle portions 112,114. It should be noted that the location of spreader pad 125 issomewhat below the handle portion of the apparatus as indicated by thedotted line extending on an axis perpendicular to the handle portion ofsaid apparatus. This particular structure of the apparatus would be theenabling factor of maintaining the operator's hand above water whilemanipulating the apparatus for spreading the paraffin ribbon as shown inFIG. 3. Arcuate recurved section 118 which is integrally attached tohandle 114 would essentially be that section of the apparatus extendingbelow line C through the arcuate to spreader pad 125. A radius ofcurvature RC equal to one inch would be exemplary.

It would be made clear that the flexing of the apparatus would be in itsnormal position with the spreaders apart from one another so that theoperator would have to hand hold handles 112, 114 and bring themtogether in order to get spreader pads 125, 127 in a position for makingcontact with the paraffin ribbon and thus releasing the tension onhandles 112 and 114 to enable them to move apart again and spreadparaffin ribbon 33 out, thus removing any bubbles or wrinkles.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate in sequence the removal of either a wrinkle 34or a bubble 35 from paraffin ribbon 33 as it sits upon water bath 32.The water surface WS of water bath 32 is shown as was illustrated inFIG. 3.

FIG. 8 shows a wrinkle 34 and three bubbles 35 in a schematic sectionalfashion. Note that spreader pads 23, 25 have been moved in proximitytogether at point A. This position is achieved as aforementioned byapplying hand pressure to handles 12, 14 so that they are broughttogether or collapsed as is also shown in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 9, the user has released hand pressure on handles 12, 14allowing divergence of handles 12, 14 as well as allowing for divergenceof pads 23, 25. Since each pad 23, 25 is placed into frictionalengagement with the bottom surface of paraffin ribbon 33, as thedivergence of pads 23, 25 occurs, it urges the end portions of ribbon 33apart thus removing wrinkle 34 and providing a straight flat ribbon 33as seen in FIG. 9.

In a like fashion, the spreader pads 23, 25 can engage any bubbles 35and urge them outwardly until the periphery of ribbon 33 is reached,disposing of bubbles 35 therefrom. In this manner, wrinkles 34 andbubbles 35 can be removed by repeated collapsing and spreading ofhandles 12, 14 by the user with pads being removed from ribbon 33 duringthe collapsing of handles 12, 14 and with pads 23, 25 being gentlyengaged to the bottom surface of ribbon 33 during the diverging thereofas shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

Normally, ribbon 33 would be supported upon the water surface WS ofwater bath 32 by surface tension, for example, due to its very thin andvery light construction.

Because many varying and different embodiments may be made within thescope of the inventive concept herein taught, and because manymodifications may be made in the embodiments herein detailed inaccordance with the descriptive requirement of the law, it is to beunderstood that the details herein are to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed as invention is:
 1. A hand held apparatus for removingwrinkles and bubbles in a thin paraffin ribbon, comprising:a. a pair ofnormally flexible handles integrally connected together at one endportion thereof; b. a pair of elongated strut members constitutingintegral portions with said handles, disposed at an angle in relation tosaid handles and movable with respect to one another, responsive to aflexing of said handles; c. a pair of spreader portions disposed at theopposite end of said strut members in relation to said handles,constituting integral portions with said strut members and disposed atan angle in relation to them, each spreader portion comprising:i. anelongated spreader arm; ii. a pair of spreader pad portions attached tothe top end portions of said elongated spreader arms where the spreaderarm and handles both extend in an upward direction with respect to saidstrut member, and where each spreader pad portion has a top surfacecapable of frictionally engaging and supporting, for spreading, aportion of said paraffin ribbon, and where the top surfaces of thespreader pad portions are alligned such that they can spread said ribbonupon flexing of said handles.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein saidflexible handles taper into a needlepoint out the free end portionsthereof.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the angle between saidstrut members and said handles is more than 90° (degrees).
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the angle between said spreader portionsand said strut members is approximately 90° (degrees).
 5. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein each of said spreader pad portions further comprisea substantially convex curvature on the top surface thereof andconnected to said spreader arm portion midway along the lower surfacethereof.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least top surfaces ofeach of said spreader pads is coated with a paraffin non-adhesivematerial.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said spreader padportions form a continuous spreader surface when said strut members arebrought together in a flexing movement.